October homicides in Chicago second lowest in 30 years

November 01, 2012|By Jeremy Gorner | Tribune reporter

(Tribune illustration)

In a year in which the rise in homicides has brought unwelcome national attention to Chicago, police on Thursday announced one encouraging statistic: October saw its second-lowest number of killings in at least 30 years.

The month ended with 36 homicides, down eight from October 2011 and the second-lowest the department has recorded since 1982. The city had 34 homicides in October 2004.

Shootings also fell in last month to 208, down from 231 in October 2011, the department said.

Still, through the first 10 months of 2012, homicides have risen by a little over 22 percent over a year earlier, putting Chicago on pace to potentially record 500 homicides for the first time since 2008. Through October, there have been 442 homicides, compared with 361 during the same period last year.

Shootings also have jumped by close to 9 percent to 2,106, up from 1,940 a year earlier.

Much of the reason for the spike in violent crime resulted from sizable increases in homicides and shootings over the first three months of 2012. It's difficult to pinpoint all the reasons behind the spike, but criminologists believe the unseasonably warm weather earlier this year was a factor in the increase.

Homicides skyrocketed by as much as 66 percent by mid-April, but the percentage increase has fallen gradually since then.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has attributed the improvement to the implementation of citywide "gang audits" in which specialized units share gang intelligence with beat officers in an effort to prevent retaliatory shootings. The strategy began in March.

The department also started holding gang members on mandatory bail in the city’s lockups if they’re arrested on misdemeanor charges, instead of allowing them to be released on their own recognizance.

In October, the South Side’s Gresham and South Chicago police districts led the city with six homicides apiece, according to statistics. The Gresham district currently leads the city in homicides with 41 homicides, while the South Chicago and Grand Crossing districts each have the second-highest total with 36.